Secular Confessions

[daylilies]

Kickboxing is fun!

I think I'm going to re-join the gym in the town next door (where I used to go before we moved to the next town over)...it's not as close as some others but it's much cheaper and I really need to get back into it. Now that Josh is almost PTed and doesn't always need a nap anymore, the time it takes to go won't be as hindering.

[Bridget]

I confess that this was my "retail therapy" last night. http://www.nikkimcclure.com/
I ordered 6 prints and I just want them all. They are so beautiful! My girlfriend had a few hanging in her house the last time I went over there and it was instant love for me.
Lydia - I really hope you find the dime.
Lauren - YAY YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
My dad called last night to tell me that my mom went back to her dr for one last check to see if the last ditch treatment worked and it did not. He told them there is less than 5% chance that anything will work at this point but 100% chance that anything they try is going to add to her discomfort. So it's a no brainer, really. She is officially done with treatment. I talked to one of her close friends the other night who told me that my mom told her she is totally at peace with everything and not afraid. So that is a bit of a comfort. I wish I was. I swear, I'm going to worry myself into insanity. My poor dad. I just don't know what he'll do.
Kai yelled out "You scared the JESUS out of me!" and Fleet Farm last night which was lovely in my very po-dunk, very Catholic town. I think my dad said "You scared the be-jeezers" or something like that once and both of my kids now say what Kai hollered last night.

[Bridget]

I confess I just started KICKBOX again!!!

I love kickboxing so much, and I haven't really done it since I was pregnant. I am doing a 5 week course and am feeling so great to get back into it again. And it is so much fun because it is an impact course, so we are actually sparring, punching and kicking other people (and I get punched and kicked back ). We are all wearing pads so it doesn't hurt too much.

I love punching and kicking people! It is really fun to be stronger than you look. I've got a quick jab and a mean roundhouse. Look out!

That is GREAT! I kickboxed for about 4 years before I moved to Hawaii and I love love loved it. I was in the best shape of my life and I just felt like superwoman! We sparred and stuff too and, man, that was great! Good for you.

[missychrissy]

Krista & Bridget.

[daylilies]

Bridget, I'm so sorry about your mom. I'm glad she is at peace with it and I hope you (and your father) can get there, too.
LOL at Kai

[addysonreese]

maybe with interest it will turn into a quarter.

I wouldn't read too much into the lack of an exclamation mark either. I totally agree that it looks weird, but I bet it's just her writing style.

It sort of reminds me of a friend of mine. She's extremely polite and well-spoken IRL, but her writing style is so sloppy that I would probably think she was a bit rude/uneducated if I hadn't met her in person.

The funny thing is that she's normally extremely expressive. I guess I'll just assume she was having an off day, although with the drama surrounding her.. I really can't. Oh well. Drama is not my style, so I'll ignore her until it's over lol.

I confess that this was my "retail therapy" last night. http://www.nikkimcclure.com/
I ordered 6 prints and I just want them all. They are so beautiful! My girlfriend had a few hanging in her house the last time I went over there and it was instant love for me.
Lydia - I really hope you find the dime.
Lauren - YAY YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
My dad called last night to tell me that my mom went back to her dr for one last check to see if the last ditch treatment worked and it did not. He told them there is less than 5% chance that anything will work at this point but 100% chance that anything they try is going to add to her discomfort. So it's a no brainer, really. She is officially done with treatment. I talked to one of her close friends the other night who told me that my mom told her she is totally at peace with everything and not afraid. So that is a bit of a comfort. I wish I was. I swear, I'm going to worry myself into insanity. My poor dad. I just don't know what he'll do.
Kai yelled out "You scared the JESUS out of me!" and Fleet Farm last night which was lovely in my very po-dunk, very Catholic town. I think my dad said "You scared the be-jeezers" or something like that once and both of my kids now say what Kai hollered last night.

I'm so sorry about your mom. I am glad though, that she has found peace, and I know that you will too. We are here for you, and you can always talk and vent to us.

LOL @ Kai. That is adorable.

[Cosmosmom]

I was 4 years 11 months when I started kindergarten. Which meant I was 17 when I moved away for college (350 miles away). I was extremely immature for my age and the youngest child in the family. I really, really wish I could have waited and started college at 18 but my parents made it clear that not going to college was not an option for me. If I'd started later I'm sure it would have been easier for me the first time around. Some kids would have been okay at that age but I wasn't. I should really read Outliers - I'll remember that.

!

That was the biggest reason my mom didn't push me ahead...I literally missed the deadline by less than two weeks. When she talk to a psychologist (my friends mom), she said that while I was smart enough to ahead and mature enough, I wasn't quite as mature as I could have been. And she asked mom if she wanted to send me away to school at 17 or have me turn 19 right at the beginning of freshman year. My mom said she didn't want me going anywhere until I was a bit older.
Every other Sept baby I have known was pushed ahead so parents didn't have to pay an extra year of day care/preschool...and pretty much all have struggled some expecially in maturity.

The only bad/good part was I basically started high school and turned 16...in my city high school began in 10th grade (well 9th grade counted but was housed in the junior high buildings). So here I am in a new school, meeting new friends and I'm the only one who can drive and has a car. Which was great...but took me a while a to learn who the real friends were and how was just using me for rides.

[Cosmosmom]

Krista I'm sorry about your friend.

[Cosmosmom]

maybe with interest it will turn into a quarter.

LOL

Maybe it just disappeared. My dad has really gotten into doing tricks...magic tricks that is (and he is a crossing guard so my sister and I tease him doing tricks and being out on the corner) and he brought soem up by us. One he had a quarter, dime, nickel and penny and made the dime disappear. I was watching him closely and have no clue where it went...he had short sleeves on, the coins all were regular ones as far as I could tell.

[Cosmosmom]

Bridget, I'm so sorry.

[midgeend]

I'm sorry about your mom Bridget. Big hugs to you and your dad.



I confess that there's this meetup group starting to do some activities around town - and I'm pretty excited about it, but the mom who is putting it together is just a complete ditz. I think she's very nice, and I'm trying hard to like her...but she drives me bananas sometimes with the things she says.

[Cosmosmom]

I watched Capitalism a love story this weekend when my dad was visiting. We all really liked it. Not quite sure how one can be a capitalist and a christian.

I also loaned my dad Religulous by Bill Maher and he really liked that.

Tomorrow tickets go on sale and DH and I are buying some to see Bill Maher in person this summer.

Think that we will also try to see Wicked which is coming to the Twin Cities in August/September but will have to see if we can get tickets next month.

[sunrider]

Lauren . . . .
Congratulations!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So um.. you wanna help me when I take my pre-med calculus class??

Um . . . let's see. That was a whopping 22 years ago. I don't know how much help I'd be.

Day four of poo-sifting, and still no dime here. Grr.

That must have been in the pages I didn't read. My guess is Ronin, right?

And I'm also guessing from you siggy that DH decided it was time for some serious name talk? I like it!! A lot!!!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!

I'm so evil.

[MammaMia]

Huge hugs to Bridget & Krista. There's been a lot of sadness on the boards lately. I hope the next few months are better.

I confess that Mia has gone back to daycare today after being off all week (holidays). I really miss her and want to pick her up early.

I confess that I hate being unemployed and I'm so frustrated with it. I'm getting depressed.

[missychrissy]

Oh Sarah

[daylilies]

Oh, that's too bad Midge. What kinds of things does she say?
That reminds me, did I tell you guys I offered to host a cooking class for my meetup womens group? Over 20 people expressed interest. (there is a place on the website where you can post ideas and people can "like" it, kind of like facebook) Now the event is on the calendar and nobody has rsvp'ed. I'm thinking either I'm too far away or nobody likes what I picked (I have a recipe for beef stroganoff that has a couple neat tricks and tips in it). So the organizer emailed the group asking for some feedback on what they don't like about it. I hope to get some input and actually pull this off. I'm a little out of the way from everyone else but it was the closest active group in the area.

[daylilies]

I'm sorry Sarah are there any womens groups or organizations (volunteer, or something) that you can get involved in?

[girlwonder]

I thought this was in interesting article,

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programme...ca/8601207.stm

especially this paragraph:

Children in Finland only start main school at age seven. The idea is that before then they learn best when they're playing and by the time they finally get to school they are keen to start learning.

in the context of our earlier discussion about early schooling=bad at math.

Sarah - are you in Finland?

[Cosmosmom]

And I'm also guessing from you siggy that DH decided it was time for some serious name talk? I like it!! A lot!!!

.

OMG, good eye! I didn't notice it so had to scroll back up and I totally agree!

I like it a lot too. We have talked about using that as middle name if we had two boys. First is Theodore Wilson and second we were thinking of Harrison Christopher.

[addysonreese]

I confess that I hate being unemployed and I'm so frustrated with it. I'm getting depressed.

honey. I know exactly how that is. It WILL get better; we just have to push through it all.

[MammaMia]

I'm sorry Sarah are there any womens groups or organizations (volunteer, or something) that you can get involved in?

Yep, I've been thinking about that. I need to look into it!

I thought this was in interesting article,

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programme...ca/8601207.stm

especially this paragraph:

Children in Finland only start main school at age seven. The idea is that before then they learn best when they're playing and by the time they finally get to school they are keen to start learning.

in the context of our earlier discussion about early schooling=bad at math.

Sarah - are you in Finland?

Nope, Iceland (I'm Australian though). Kids also start school here at 6 or 7. It has one of the highest rates of literacy in the world, so I guess it's not a bad thing.

[missychrissy]

Reason number 203481940357304756 that the US should look at how other nations education their children.

[MammaMia]

honey. I know exactly how that is. It WILL get better; we just have to push through it all.

Thanks hun. I get these irrational thoughts like "Oh my god I'm never going to get a job again evarr!!1!!!!!11", then I step back and realise that's crazy. I just hate being in limbo, you know?

On a brighter note, I've decided that I'm going to start a new tradition of going on evening walks now that it's spring time and it stays light for ages. DH & I could really do with a bit more exercise, plus it's a nice thing to do as a family.

[stash]

I'm going to guess the literacy rate has as much to do with how your country allows family to care for children, and what the culture is like, in ADDITION to education...

[stash]

Like, what's the deal for maternity and paternity leave and support for children?

[addysonreese]

Thanks hun. I get these irrational thoughts like "Oh my god I'm never going to get a job again evarr!!1!!!!!11", then I step back and realise that's crazy. I just hate being in limbo, you know?

On a brighter note, I've decided that I'm going to start a new tradition of going on evening walks now that it's spring time and it stays light for ages. DH & I could really do with a bit more exercise, plus it's a nice thing to do as a family.

Yeah, it's definitely not easy, especially when you have hours upon hours of doing nothing. The same ol' stuff gets exhausting.

That's awesome that you're going to go walking! Fresh air and all that will do some good, definitely. Clinton and I walk in the mornings now. I definitely find I'm at a better place after we've been out for a bit.

[missychrissy]

Thanks hun. I get these irrational thoughts like "Oh my god I'm never going to get a job again evarr!!1!!!!!11", then I step back and realise that's crazy. I just hate being in limbo, you know?

On a brighter note, I've decided that I'm going to start a new tradition of going on evening walks now that it's spring time and it stays light for ages. DH & I could really do with a bit more exercise, plus it's a nice thing to do as a family.

Yes it is. I started walking with the girls (and later Conner) years ago. We were doing 2 miles every day throughout most of the year until I started running.

[Bridget]

I confess that yesterday one of my daycare mamas made my day. She thanked me and appreciated me profusely. She told me she never worries for a second while her daughter is here. That rocks/

[missychrissy]

That's awesome Bridget!

[MammaMia]

Like, what's the deal for maternity and paternity leave and support for children?

In Iceland? You get 9 months paid parental leave - 3 months for the mother, 3 for the father, and 3 that you can split however you choose. It's even more in other Nordic countries, I think.

I confess that yesterday one of my daycare mamas made my day. She thanked me and appreciated me profusely. She told me she never worries for a second while her daughter is here. That rocks/

That does indeed rock.